‘Problem Child’: 1990 Box Office Hit Comedy Film Starring John Ritter to Be Adapted for TV by NBC
Problem Child, the 1990 American comedy movie directed by Dennis Dugan and which starred John Ritter, Amy Yasbeck and Michael Oliver, has been given the green light by NBC for adaptation for a TV series, with Scot Armstrong set to write the script for the single-camera project, as well as executive produce with the original film's producer Brian Grazer.
In the original film, Ritter's character Ben is a good-hearted guy who's always wanted a son of his own, but so far he and his wife Flo (played by Yasbeck) have had no success. The couple adopt Junior (played by Oliver), a redheaded seven-year-old brat who quickly makes their lives miserable. Disaster follows Junior wherever he goes, from camping trips that require emergency-room visits to birthday parties that turn into absolute mayhem. When Ben's incensed family tells him to get rid of the boy, he starts to wonder if they might be right.
For the TV adaptation, the network has confirmed casting Matthew Lillard, 45, as the Problem Child's adopted dad, and Erinn Hayes, 38, as the adopted mom. Lillard is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo movies and cartoon series. Hayes is best recognized for her appearances in comedies like Children's Hospital, The Winner, Worst Week, Guys with Kids, and It's a Disaster.
The 1990 Problem Child movie went on to be a commercial success at the box office, grossing $53 million domestically and $72 million worldwide. It spawned two sequels: the first, 1991's Problem Child 2 was released to theaters; the second, 1995's Problem Child 3: Junior in Love was a made-for-television movie that aired on the USA Network. It was also adapted into an animated TV series that was broadcast from 1993 to 1994 by Universal Cartoon Studios.